De laitoy



(No ModeL) H. DE LANOY.

MAIL BAG GATGHER.

Patented Apr. 21', 1885.,

I .Z' co |NVENTOR flarg/flelanqy,

By his fltiorney llnirnn STATES 1 arnnr @rrren HARRY- DE LANOY, OF HASTINGS-ON-THE-HUDSON, NEW YORK.

MAIL-BAG: CATCHE'R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,340, dated April 21, 1885.

Application filerl January 3, 18:5. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRYDE LANOY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hastings-on-the-Hudson, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Simultaneously Catching and Delivering Mail-Bags; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of mailbag catchers for railway postal service adapted to simultaneously receive and deliver a mailbag while the car is in motion, and is designed as an improvement upon the apparatus described and illustrated in an application for United States Letters Patent filed by me on or about the 2d day of April, 1884. It was found upon practically testing the apparatus here referred to that it was open to certain objections, among which may be mentioned, first, that the rigid rearward extension of the catcher-arm obstructed the openspace of the doorway to an undesirable degree when the catcher was not in use, and, second, that the angle-bar depending from the horizontal shaft could not in every instance be relied upon to hold the lower end of the mail-bag in proper position to be caught by the catcher-arm at the station, because it was not sufficiently rigid, and to employ an angle-bar which would prove serviceable under all circumstances and conditions involved the construction of a device entirely too heavyfor general use. Moreover, difficulty was experienced in disposing of the angle-bar when the catcher was not in use.

The object of this invention is to so construct an apparatus of this class'that the deliveringarm carried by the catcher-arm will not obstruct the doorway of the car when not in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide an independent support or deliveringarm for thelower end of a bag.

With these and minor objects in view the invention consists in novel features of construction and combinations, which will be fully described in the ensuing specification, and claimed in the clauses atthe close thereof.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure l is a view in elevation of a car-door fitted with my improved device for simultaneously catching and delivering a mail-bag, a mail-bag lye-- ing shown in position to be delivered to the catcher at a stat-ion. Fig. 2 is a siinilar'view showing the position of the parts after the mail-bag has been delivered. Figs. 3 and 4 are plan views of the catcher,illustrating inodifications of the eatching and delivering arms. Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of the lower delivering arm or support, illustrating modifications. Fig. 7 illustrates the catching-and delivering device applied to a crane at a station. Fig. 8 is a detail showing, on a larger scale, a part of the station catcher.

Corresponding reference letters are usedin the several figures to designate like parts.

I will first describe the device illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, as that more nearly resembles in construction the catcher described in my prior application.

The horizontal shaft A is j ournaled in boxes a a, secured to the opposite sides of the doorframe. The handle E is rigidly secured to the shaft A, and the collar K is mounted to slide freely on but rotate with the shaft, all as described in my said prior application. The catcher-arm Iis secured to or formed integral with the collar K,the springstop M being secured at its outer end either to the catcherarm I or to the shaft A, in such manner that its inner free end will extend, normally,across the crotch of the catcher. A rubber buffer or coiled spring is interposed between the collar K and the rear journal-box, a, of the shaft, to yieldingly resist the rearward movement of said collar upon the shaft. I

As the construction and operation of the parts so far. mentioned have been fully described in my prior application herein referred to, and the novel features and combinations covered by claims therein, I wish it understood that I do not claim these parts in my present application, except in combination with the improvements now to be described.

It is desirable, for various reasons, that while the catcher is not in use it should take up as little of the open space of the doorway aspossible; and to this end I have, in lieu of the rigid rearward extension of thecatcherarm described in my prior application, fitted the catcher-arm with an adjustable extension,

I, which may be folded up when not in use,

and drawn out when the catcher is to be operated to deliver a bag to the catcher at a station. I have shown two forms of this adj ustable extension in the accompanying drawings, but do not confine myself to the exact details of construction,as they may be varied in many ways without departing from the principle in-' volved. These forms are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, that in Fig. 2 consisting of an arm, I, connected by a shrouded hinge to the catcherarm I, about midway of its length. This ad justable extension I carries at its outer end any usual or preferred form of spring-clasp to hold the upper loop of a mail-bag.

In Fig. 3 the catcher-arm I is provided with a short rearward extension, I terminating in a loop or eye which embraces the short sliding arm I. This short sliding or adjustable arm I is at its inner end provided with an eye embracing the short rearward extension 1, and at its outer end with a spring-clasp to hold the upper loop of a bag. When the catcher is not in use, the adjustable arm I may he slid forward out of the way. This same re sult would be obtained by making the adjustable extension or deliveringarm I tubular to slide upon the part 1 and in this form, as well as that shown in Fig. 2, a spring-catch may be arranged to hold the movable part I in either position of adjustment. In Fig. 4 the shaft A is represented as square in cross-section, its ends being turned off to fit the boxes a a. The inside of the collar K is formed to fit the shaft snugly, and is provided with the handle E, by which the collar, with its catcher-arm, may he slid forward on the shaft A when not in use, so that the catcher-arm and its rearward extension (which is used in this modification) will be removed from the doorway, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

It is obvious that instead of arranging the collar K to slide the full length of shaft A, as

"slmwn, said collar may be given onlyalimited longitudinal play, as in Figs. 2 and 3, and the shaft A be constructed to slide longitudinallyin its bearings. In this instance the handle E could be secured to shaft A, instead of collar K.

Below the boxes a a, and at a proper distance above the car-floor, are secured j ournalboxes d d, the counterpart of those already described. Journaled within these boxes d d is a horizontal shaft, D, provided about midway of its length with an angular slot, (P, in which is mounted to slide an arm, D, having the same cross-sectional contour as the slot.

This arm D is provided at its outer end with In order to leave the lower part of the doorway unobstructed when the device is not in use, the shaft D maybe made shorter and constructed to slide longitudinally in the forward box, d, the rear box, d, being dispensed with, and the rear end of the shaft being either left free, as shown in Fig. 6, or swiveled in a bearing on the leg D provided with a fiat foot, 02 adapted to fit snugly within a broad fiat staple, S, secured to the floor of the car, as shown in Fig. 5. By this construction the shaft D' may be slid forward to bring the arm D (and leg D", when used) close to the front side of the door-frame, as shown by dotted lines in Figs. 5 and 6.

The improvement in the station catcher, illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, is to enable the attendant to set the catcher-arm to receive a bag from a moving car when there is no bag to be delivered from the station to the car. The station catcher consistsof the usual crane or frame, N n, to the upright N of which is secured a horizontal cross-piece, a. The bearing-boxes a a, carrying the horizontal shaftA and its adjuncts, (see Fig. 7,) are secured near the ends of this cross-piece in a position to bring the spring-clasp on the end of the rearward extension of the catcher-arm in a vertical plane with a spring-clasp carried at the end of the projecting piece at. The rear box, a, is provided at its rear side with a shoulder, a", and a pin or key, A, is secured to the shaft A, the relative positions of the shoulder a and pin A being such that when the shaft A is turned to bring the catcher-arm into operative position, and moved slightly forward, (say half an inch,) the pin will rest upon the shoulder and retain the catcher-arm in its operative position; but upon receiving the bag from the car the impact thereof will move the shaftA rearward, thus dislodging the pin from the shoulder and permitting the catcher-arm to drop.

I prefer to construct all shafts and bearings in such a manner that the shafts may be reversed in their bearings, thus enabling the catcher-arm to be pointed in either direction to receive a bag.

I have not thought it necessary to show spring-clasps upon the ends of the respective delivering-arms, as these clasps form no part of my invention, and their mode of attachment is more strictly within the province of the skilled mechanic.

I also deem it unnecessary to give a de tailed description of the operation of this device in this application, as it has been fully stated in the prior application to which I have herein referred, and as the operation of apparatus of this class is already well understood.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

1. In a mail-bag catching and delivering apparatus, the combination of the horizontal shaft, the catcher-arm, and the extension or delivering-arm secured to the catcher-arm, said catcher arm being mounted to slide on the The lower end of this leg D is horizontal shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination, with a horizontal shaft and a catcher-arm mounted thereon, of the adjustable extension secured to the catcher-arm, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the horizontal shaft and the catcher-arm mounted thereon, ofthe adjustable extension pivoted to the catcher-arm, substantially as before set-forth.

4. The combination, with the horizontal shaft, the catcher-arm, and an extension, of a lower horizontal shaft mounted to turn in bearings and provided with a delivering-arm, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a mail-bag catcher, of an extension secured to the catcher-arm, and a lower horizontal shaft having an angular slot, and a delivering-arm adapted to fit and slide within said slot, substantially as before set forth.

6. The combination, with a mail-bag catcher, the catcher-arm of which is provided with an extension, of a lower horizontal shaft having a delivering-arm, said shaft being mounted to rotate and slide in a fixed bearing, substantially as before set forth.

7. The combination, with a mail-bag catchor, the catcher-arm of which is provided with an extension, of a lower horizontal shaft having a delivering-arm, said shaft being at one end mounted to rotate and slide in a fixed bearing, and near its other end journaled in a bearing formed in a movable support, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY DE LANOY.

Witnesses:

J. A. OHRYsTIE, SAMUEL EMBERSON. 

